WASHINGTON — Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are partners in comedy who are more accustomed to getting laughs on the airwaves than making waves in the U.S. capital.
But their upcoming duelling rallies at the iconic Washington monument, along with Colbert’s testimony last week to Congress about illegal immigration, have inserted the pair into the politics of the nation, much to the chagrin of politicians and commentators alike.
Colbert is facing criticism for his testimony, delivered largely in character as his right-wing blowhard alter-ego.
The barbs are coming not just from Republicans but from Democrats and commentators on the left, despite the fact that it was a Democrat who invited him to appear Friday before the House of Representatives’ subcommittee on immigration.
“This is America,” Colbert ranted at one point.
“I don’t want a tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, then sliced by a Guatemalan, then served by a Venezuelan, in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian.”
Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader, has since called the appearance “an embarrassment” — but more of an embarrassment to Colbert than the House, he made clear.
Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis says Colbert’s testimony was a bad idea, given the low opinion Americans already have of Congress. And David Corn of Mother Jones said Colbert made “a mockery of this hearing.”
Colbert shot back at Democrats on this show on Tuesday night, quipping that the “Democrats’ self-loathing has gotten so bad they’ve changed their symbol from the silhouette of a donkey to Eeyore eating a whole chocolate cheesecake.”
But Stewart sounded an angrier, less satirical tone.
“Of course Colbert is more embarrassed than the House of Representatives,” he said on The Daily Show earlier this week. “Colbert still has dignity and integrity left to lose.”
The war of words against pundits and politicians alike comes as Stewart and Colbert plan their descent upon the capital on Oct. 30.
Their duelling rallies are expected to attract tens of thousands of left-leaning fans just three days before the mid-term congressional elections that could see Republicans regain control of the House.
Liberal blogger Arianna Huffington has announced she’ll be providing transportation to anyone who wants to attend the joint “Rally to Restore Sanity/March to Keep Fear Alive” events.
The event is a not-so-gentle swipe at Fox New personality Glenn Beck, who held his “Restoring Honor” rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial last month on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have A Dream” speech.
The timing and locale of the rally angered civil rights activists.
Beck isn’t taking well to the implicit ridicule, warning Stewart and Colbert that they risk going “the way of Oprah Winfrey.”
He was apparently referring to the dip in ratings for The Oprah Winfrey Show following the powerful talk-show host’s endorsement of Barack Obama for U.S. president two years ago.
Some were puzzled by Beck’s admonishment.
“Warning people they may ‘go the way of Oprah’ is a bit like warning people all their dreams might someday come true,” wrote Glynnis MacNicol, senior editor at the Mediaite news website.
“Is Beck warning Stewart and Colbert that if they keep on doing what they’re doing they too might find themselves a quarter century-long cultural phenomenon with a best-selling magazine, numerous books and their own network?”
“I don’t know how this shakes out, and I don’t claim to be the one who is left standing in the end,” Beck said on his radio show earlier this week.
“Here’s what I do claim. I believe that those who play these games at this point, who are not honest, who are in bed with the special interests, who are in bed with what America knows is wrong, they will go the way of Oprah Winfrey.”
Winfrey, for her part, recently tweeted, “Jon Stewart’s on to something” — an apparent nod to the comedian’s insistence that most Americans are tired of the angry rhetoric that is characterizing political discourse in the United States since Obama’s historic election.